


Bosede (Gnoll)

by TheTravelerWrites



Series: Monster Lovers: OkCryptid [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Exophilia, F/M, Gnoll, Gnoll Boyfriend, Human/Gnoll, Human/Monster Romance, Monster Boyfriend, OkCryptid, Online Dating, Reader Insert, Reader-Insert, Slut Shaming, Teratophilia, Theft, dating app, human/monster
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-08-20 08:17:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16552217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTravelerWrites/pseuds/TheTravelerWrites
Summary: A woman signs up for an online dating app and discovers it's more complicated than she thought.





	Bosede (Gnoll)

You didn’t… date. You didn’t go to bars or clubs. You bought most of your clothes, books, and groceries online, so unless you met someone at 4 a.m. who liked people who wore bunny slippers to get ice cream, it was unlikely you’d meet someone at a shop. You were a freelance editor for various magazines, and as such, worked from home, so you wouldn’t be meeting anyone at work. Your friends, all two of them, were married and didn’t have anyone they could set you up with.

You were a homebody who didn’t like change, but you couldn’t deny that you were lonely and tired of being alone. That really only left one option.

So you’d done it. You’d given in and made an online dating profile. And not just any dating site, either. You’d chosen OkCryptid.

Humans could use it to find other humans, too, but you knew most people used it to date monsters. And if you were going to try something new, you might as well go all out.

There was a whole quiz you had to take just to get started; what you were looking for, your orientation, your thoughts on politics, books, music, even what types of monster you were prepared to to meet, humanoid or… not. It was surprisingly in-depth.

It took nearly two hours to fill out your profile and do the questionnaire, but it was three a.m. and you decided that you were satisfied enough with it, and would check if you got any matches in the morning over breakfast. You hoped it would be worth the time you spent on it.

The next morning, you saw you’d gotten a few messages already, but they were either two word greetings ( _hey sexy_ ), or you had nothing in common with them. A little discouraging, but you decided to look through the suggested matches list. A gargoyle, a troll, some guy visiting from Michigan you’d likely never meet. Nothing there.

There was one caught your eye. Under “species,” it showed “chose not to say,” and there was no profile picture, just the site’s default male silhouette icon, only with horns to denote that he was non-human.

You clicked it on your phone as you set up your work computer at the kitchen table and read his bio. Nondescript and vague. His “looking for” section literally only had three words: “Must love dogs.” All you could glean from his profile was that he living in the area, was male, didn’t smoke, and worked in the food industry, but he didn’t specify in what capacity.

However, he had answered a ton of the optional personality questions, and was an 91% match with you, which so far was the highest match percentage yet.

He did, enigmatically, have one photo in his pic folder, but it was a group of people at a river, fishing, and he wasn’t tagged. You had no way of knowing which one he was. There was a werewolf in the picture, full-shift and sopping wet, and you thought maybe it could be him, but there was really no way to tell. Most werewolves you knew could shift at any time, though it was harder to maintain human form during full moons, so anyone besides the obvious monsters in the picture could also have been a werewolf.

You were so drawn in, trying to decipher which he could be, that you were compelled to send him a message.

> _So, I can’t tell which one is you in the pic on your profile._

You kind of weren’t expecting a response, given how lazily his profile was set up, but halfway through editing your first article, you received a reply.

> _There’s a reason for that._

You expected something more, but he didn’t continue.

> _Which is?_ You asked him.

> _I took the photo_ , He replied.

> _OH. That makes more sense._

> _Is that why you messaged me?_

> _Partly. I always did like a good mystery._

> _And what’s the other part?_

> _We have a pretty high match percentage. A friend of mine says is nearly impossible to get one that high. I only just made my profile last night, so I wasn’t expecting anything so quick._

> _Ah, I see. Another mystery?_

> _Yeah, I guess so._

> _Are you trying to figure out what kind of monster I am?_

> _I’m certainly curious. You could tell me, but judging from your profile, you clearly like your anonymity, so I won’t press you for details you’re not willing to disclose._

> _Thoughtful of you._

> _Though, it is hard to get to know someone who won’t talk about themselves._

> _So why don’t I ask you about yourself?_

> _You’re more than welcome to, although there’s not all that much to tell, really. My life is pretty boring._

> _You’re looking for an adventure, then?_

I snorted. Was he being flirty?

> _Maybe. I guess that’s why I made this profile. Looking for something new. My typical day isn’t all that exciting._

> _What kind of exciting are you looking for?_

> _I don’t know. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d get this far._

> _Do you want to meet up?_

Your head rocked back at that. You’d only just started talking to each other. You wondered if this guy was just looking for a hook-up. Meeting face-to-face was awfully fast for you.

Well, you were looking for a change. You could agree to meet him at a well-populated restaurant and have a friend on call in case he turned out to be a pervert or a jerk. The worst that could happen is you bailed early.

> _Sure, what about Friday at Duke’s Steakhouse? You know where that is?_

> _Yeah, I know it. Friday’s good for me. I get off work at six. Seven work for you?_

> _Yeah, that’s great. Let me give you my number._

_> Sure._

Well. That had been easy. Why didn’t you try online dating sooner?

He didn’t message you again until Friday, and that was just to coordinate. You ended up being twenty minutes early out of sheer nerves. He turned up thirty minutes late, so you were sitting in the restaurant stewing for nearly an hour.

You looked up and, to your surprise, you saw a gnoll walking up to your table. He had black eyes and a black snout, though his fur was a tan brown with a darker brown stripe running down the raised fur on his neck and back. There were dark brown spots on either side of his neck. He wore jeans and a warm sweater against the November chill.

He arrived disheveled and sad down heavily in the chair opposite to you with a sigh. You found this odd, but you greeted him brightly nonetheless.

“Hi, you’re Bosede?” You asked.

“Yep, that’s me,” He said tiredly.

You reached over the table to shake his paw. “It’s nice to meet you in person.”

He takes your hand after a moment’s hesitation but doesn’t shake it. “Yeah.”

You had a feeling this was already a wash, but you tried to keep a good face on it. “I ordered you a bourbon. I read on your profile that it’s your favorite.”

He actually glared at you then, but he took the drink and downed it.

“So… _must love dogs_ totally makes sense now. Though I wasn’t expecting a gnoll.”

He laughed mirthlessly. “Why’s that? Not interesting enough for you? Not big or weird enough? Not a good enough story for your friends?” He shook his head. “Typical human monster chaser.”

You scoffed at the sudden hostility. “What the hell is your problem?”

“ _You’re_ my problem,” He snapped back. “You and people like you. Humans who think people like us are nothing more than a good time. Humans who just want a outrageous story to tell their friends or a weird fling before they settle down with another human. Monster sluts.”

You had been annoyed and dismayed before, but the second _slut_ left his lips, an ice cold chill struck your spine and you were overcome with rage.

“Don’t you dare call me that!” You shouted, slamming your hands on the table. Angry tears fell from your eyes, mascara running. “You don’t know anything about me! You don’t get to call me that! _No one_ gets to call me that!”

“Keep your voice down!” He said, shrinking back from you, his ears pinned to his head.

“No!” You yelled, standing over him. “You don’t get to decide that I’m a slut after two minutes of conversation. You don’t get to decide anything about me. I didn’t come here to be treated like…” You couldn’t say it, and snapped your quivering lips shut.

You pried open your purse and flung two twenties at him. “I should have known better to think I’d actually find a good person online. It’s nothing but rapists, assholes, and stalkers.” You whipped your coat off the chair, leaving him behind, gaping at you. “Thanks for wasting both our time. I’ll be damned if I ever date again, after this”

You waited until you were outside before you began fully sobbing. You were crying so hard that you couldn’t see straight, especially with the mascara in your eyes, so you found a bench maybe fifty yards from the restaurant and sat down on it, reaching for the make-up wipes in your bag and cleaning your face.

“Um… hey,” You heard a voice say. It was the gnoll from the date.

“What, haven’t called me enough names?” You shot at him. “Do you get some kind of sick pleasure at offending complete strangers? Leave me alone.”

“Look… I…” He struggled to form a sentence. “I… I’m sorry about what I said. Let me explain, please.”

“What possible explanation could there be for you to call me… _that_ … after three sentences of conversation?” You asked indignantly.

“Please,” He said, holding up his paws placatingly. “I was an asshole, I will admit that. Just let me explain why.”

You sat there with your arms cross, a tear or two still falling down your cheeks, when you just nodded. He sat down on the opposite side of the bench, giving you lots of space.

“So?” You said, not looking at him.

The gnoll sighed. “Do you know the history of that dating app?”

“No?” You said sardonically. “Why should I need to?”

“Well, it wouldn’t be all that important if you’re human, but for us, monsters and cryptids, it was a huge deal when it was launched. I bet you didn’t know that there are only one to one-point-five billion monsters in existence collectively.”

It was the first time you looked at him since he sat down. “I didn’t know that.”

He nodded. “That means humans outnumber monsters seven-to-one. Not just gnolls, you understand,” He said, pointing at himself. “ _All_ monsters. Some of us, like Orcs, live in communities that makes finding a mate easy, but a lot of us aren’t that lucky. Finding mates for us is much more difficult. My parents didn’t meet until they were almost past mating age.”

“So that’s why they made the app,” You guessed.

“Yeah,” He replied. “And it was great; we could connect with other monsters across the world. But someone, presumably someone with a human mate, suggested we let humans use the app, too. That not allowing them to use it was speciest and we didn’t want to close ourselves off to other possibilities. So they did.”

“That sounds like a good thing to me,” You said, shrugging.

“Of course, it does. You’re human,” He said snidely. You snorted through your nose and got up to leave. He reached out to stop you, but didn’t actually touch you. “No, I’m sorry. Please.”

You sighed and sat back down. “So why wasn’t it a good thing?”

“At first, it was. There were a lot of stories of monsters finding mates and spouses on the app. Then, over time, the stories changed. There were less stories about love and more about hooking up. It wasn’t long before most monsters began to realize that a lot of humans, not all, but a lot, saw it as a fetish dating app.”

Your frowned. “Fetish?”

He nodded. “Lots of humans want to say they fucked a monster, but it seems like not many actually want to date or love them. At least, not in this region. A lot of my friends have had their hearts broken by humans who just wanted to fuck a monster. And for a lot of my friends, that’s a really big deal. Some of us mate for life.”

He sat back against the rails of the bench. “I have a friend, Niall, who’s a selkie and just got gutted by the guy he was dating. Niall apparently found out that his boyfriend of nearly two months is getting married and just wanted one last thrill before tying the knot, and Niall was his victim. The human even took his pelt to ensure Niall never tells his new wife.”

“That’s fucking despicable,” You said, momentarily forgetting your anger. “Doesn’t that mean he’s stuck on land? That’s got to be torture for a selkie.”

“Yeah, it is,” The gnoll snarled. “He was ordered not to tell anyone, actually, but I kind of guessed, which is the only reason I know. He’s not even allowed talk about it, he just cried the whole time I was there.” His paws opened and closed compulsively, making fists. “My friend is not only landlocked and can’t rejoin his family, but bonded to and at the mercy of a man that betrayed him in every conceivable way possible. That’s why I was late. I was at his apartment, consoling him. I almost didn’t come.”

“I kind of wish you hadn’t,” You said a little sourly, but the anger had fizzled out and you couldn’t help feeling terrible for his selkie friend. “Has that happened to you?”

He shook his head. “I’ve hooked up with a few humans, but never had my heart broken, not like Niall. Though It didn’t take long for me to realized that the humans on the site weren’t looking for anything real.”

“So, why did you ask me out? Why did you even respond to my message?”

“I almost didn’t,” He admitted. “In fact, I was just about to delete the app from my phone when I got your message. I guess… maybe I was hoping I might find someone different.”

“Not a monster slut, you mean.”

He winced. “I’m sorry I called you that. I shouldn’t have said it, even if you were just looking to hook up. It was a vicious thing to do and I apologize.” He eyed you sidelong. “You certainly had a… strong… reaction. Any particular reason why?”

You sniffed. “I don’t see why I should tell you anything about myself after what you did in the restaurant,” You said huffily, but you deflated a little. “But… when I was fourteen, I was this book nerd who was pretty much invisible to just about everyone. I had a couple of friends, but I wasn’t really close to anyone. Then, this guy, a junior, started to ask me out.”

“Started to?” He asked, confused.

“I turned him down, because I naturally suspected some kind of trap. He was one of those good looking types who wasn’t on a sports team but was still really popular. He was persistent, leaving notes in my locker and visiting me in the library, even coming to my house once or twice. Eventually I gave in and went out with him.”

“Was it a trap?”

“Oh-ho, you bet,” You replied unenthusiastically. “He didn’t want other people to know we were dating, he said, because he didn’t want his friend’s to make fun of him. Which made sense at the time, because his friend’s were assholes. I was naive enough to believe he was the nice one of the group. About a month in, he started to pressure me for sex. I fended him off for a while, but he got more and more insistent. He wore me down and I did it.”

“And?”

“And,” You say, heaving a unhappy breath. “He immediately told everyone at school that I was the easiest lay he’d ever had. His friends had bet him he couldn’t get me to have sex with him, and he won. So he lived out the rest of his high school career as the golden boy and I spent the next four years as the school slut because I fucked a guy I thought loved me.”

Your eyes were distant and cold. “They used to chant _slut_ at me as I walked down the hallway. I got groped a couple of times. Teachers would give me condoms and tell me I was wasting my life. I used to get notes in my locker telling me to kill myself. It was fucking awful.” You fixed him with a glare. “Today was my first date since eighth grade.”

The gnoll scrubbed his face with his paws and said, “Wow. I am the biggest dick on the planet.”

“I’m not disagreeing with you.”

“Look, I… I am an asshole, I can’t apologize enough,” He said. “Let me start over, please. I’m not normally such a dick, I’ve just been comforting my friend all day and had a bit of a chip on my shoulder.”

“That doesn’t excuse what you said,” You replied.

“No, you’re absolutely right, it doesn’t,” He said. “Let me start over.” He reached out a paw for you to shake it. “I’m Bosede.”

You frowned, but you reached out to shake and told him your name.

“So, I’d totally understand if you decide to walk away now, but I hope maybe we could salvage this date or try again another day, if you like. Though, maybe not at that restaurant,” He said reflectively, looking back at it.

You sat and thought about it. “I have a better idea. Let’s go get your friend’s pelt back.”

Hie eyes went wide and his ears stood straight up. “What?”

“Let’s get his pelt from that asshole!” You said, sitting up eagerly. “Niall can’t do it because his ex ordered him not to, right? And he probably ordered him not to go to the police, too, because taking a selkie’s pelt is, like, cutting off their legs, right? It’s the same as grievous bodily injury and super illegal.”

“Yeah,” He said slowly.

“Then let’s go get it!”

“You’re serious,” He whispered, a slightly concerned look on his face.

“Completely serious!” You said emphatically. “Dickheads like that shouldn’t be allowed to get away with things like this. Text your friend. Ask him for Dickhead’s address.”

Still staring at you like you were nuts, he pulled his phone from his jacket.

Forty-five minutes after receiving the address, you were standing at the front door of Dickhead’s house. Oh, you hoped to God that his fiance was inside with him. You knocked on the door.

“What are you planning to do?” He asked, standing next to you.

“I’m going to ask him for the pelt politely,” You said.

“And if that fails?”

“Then I’m going to ask less politely,” You said, a savage smile on your lips.

He was still looking at you with a vague sense of alarm. “I never intend to get on your bad side ever again.”

“That’s a good decision to make,” You said, your smile turning sickly sweet.

It took two more knocks to get Dickhead to answer the door, and he looked disgruntled. He was handsome, you had to admit, and he might even be charming in the right circumstances.

These were not those circumstances.

“Can I help you?”

“Yes. Hi, I’m here for a friend,” You said. “I’d like his pelt, please.”

Dickhead paled a little. “What?”

“Niall’s pelt? I want it back. It doesn’t belong to you.”

“How do you…” He started, but he backpedaled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Get off my property.”

“You know what I’m talking about,” You said. “Does your fiance know, I wonder?”

Dickhead turned from white to red. “Get out of here or I’m calling the police.”

“Oh, the police? I’m sure they’d love to find out about the felony you committed, too. Let me just get them on the phone.” You pulled your phone out of your pocket and dialed the local sheriff’s department, but didn’t hit send.

“Don’t, just…. shit…” He disappeared into his house, closing the door behind him. You stood, tapping your foot impatiently with your finger hovering over the send button.

“If he’s not out in five minutes, I’m calling,” You told Bosede.

“I’m sorry,” Bosede said seriously.

You’re head rocked back. “What for?”

“About misjudging you. I know I said sorry before, but I was still pissed off at humans, so I wasn’t feeling particularly sincere. But I was wrong about you. I never thought you’d go this far to help one of us. You’re different than other humans.”

“I’m not different,” You insisted. “You’ve just seem to have met a lot of assholes. Yeah, a lot of jerks are misusing the app, but that doesn’t represent all of us. Like you said, in the beginning, it was working. All it takes is dickheads like this guy,” you gestured at the closed door. “To ruin it for everyone.”

Before Bosede could answer, the door opened a crack and a silky, silver fur was thrown at you.

“Now get out of here. And tell Niall never to contact me again,” Dickhead said, snapping the door shut. You heard two locks click into place.

“Call Niall,” You told Bosede. “Have him meet us at the seashore.”

Smiling, showing his sharp teeth, Bosede pulled out his phone and opened up his contacts.

It took some convincing, as it was nearly ten at night, but Bosede got Niall to agree to meet you at the shore. He was tall and slender, with a sweet face and bright brown eyes, though they were red from crying. His hair was black, but it looked as silver as his pelt in the light of the nearly-full moon.

“Bosede, what’s this about?” Niall asked.

Bosede introduced you. “She has something for you, Niall.”

You reached into your coat and pulled out his pelt, and his bright eyes lit up even brighter.

“How?” He asked reverently, reaching out for it.

You’d laid it in his hands and he hugged it tightly to him.

“Bosede told me what that dickhead did to you, and I couldn’t let it stand,” You said fiercely. “So I made him give it back.”

“Thank you,” Niall said, tears in his eyes. “I’ll never be able to bond with another and likely be alone forever, but at least I’m not landlocked anymore. I may go and rejoin the herd. Maybe not permanently, but for a long time. Mama was right, I never should have left.”

“I’ll miss you, man, but I get it,” Bosede said, clapping his hand against Niall’s shoulder. “Think you might visit?”

“Maybe,” He said, beginning to shrug on the pelt.

“Don’t give up on finding someone just because of one jerk, Niall,” You told him.

He smiled at you sadly. “My kind mate for life. There’s no chance of me finding someone else.”

“I used to think that, too,” You told him. “We aren’t the first two to be used by people we loved, and we likely won’t be the last. Don’t close yourself off because you think it’s impossible.”

He didn’t look convinced, but his smile became more appreciative. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He gave a last look at Bosede. “She’s a keeper.”

Bosede only laughed.

Niall grinned at you boyishly before kneeling in the sand and pulling the hood up over his head. All at once, he was a seal, sleek and sliver and rather clumsy on the land. He bounced his way toward the water, but once he was in, he was as lithe and graceful as any dancer. He surfaced, playing and barking at the two of you, before disappearing under the waves. He’d left his phone and wallet on the bench near the shore, and Bosede picked them up.

“I’ll keep these safe for him in case he decides to come back,” He said.

“Are you guys really close?” You asked as he walked you back to town.

“Yeah, actually, he’s my best friend,” He admitted. “I was the first person he met when he came to solid land. Selkies come up to to integrate with landfolks when they reach a certain age to learn about them, kind of like an exchange student. He’s been on land for about ten years, about three years longer than he was supposed to be.” Bosede sighed morosely. “He just really liked it here.”

You gave him a sad side-smile. “I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to know him better.”

“Maybe you will,” Bosede said, grinning down at you. “Maybe he’ll come back one day. And maybe you’ll still be around, if you’ll say yes to a second date, and a third, and maybe more than that.”

You laughed. “Are you asking me out?”

“Yes,” He said, yipping a little. “For a real date this time. Not the disaster I caused tonight.”

“Not such a disaster,” You said, hooking your arm around his. “We helped your friend. That was a good thing.”

“Maybe, but I promise the next one will be better,” He said resolutely.

“It had better be,” You replied.

Slowly, you walked back into the city lights with the moon glowing overhead and a wild call in the distance behind.


End file.
